Second quarantine knockout drives some companies out of business

Ernesta Glemžienė, director of the Free Movement Sports Club in Panevėžys, is trying to see the good in all situations, during this period it is increasingly difficult to do so. To retain customers, try to train remotely.

“Of all the athletes, only ten percent of the clients participate in distance training so far, maybe in a few days it will be better. If at least 70% met, they would be very happy, ”says E. Glemžienė.

Although individual training is not prohibited when a coach works with a client, according to the manager, there is no such need. According to her, although there is a stereotype that mostly young and healthy people go to the gym, in fact clients of very different ages, many have various health problems, which are often resolved with sport. Due to present comorbidities, these people currently avoid any contact. E. Glemžienė admits that distance training is now the only opportunity for the club to continue its activities.

Moved where cheapest

Free Motion is only two and a half years old. According to E. Glemžienė, the first year is the most difficult for any new business. Establishing a sports club requires a large investment. It takes more than a year for the loans obtained to purchase equipment to be disbursed. Before even standing up, they received their first blow in the spring.

“We have put everything in this business until the last offer. We reckon it would take us more than a year to stand on our feet, but in the spring we took a hit, and now the second. Currently we are in uncertainty, it is not clear what the state support baskets will be and if they will be like that at all, “said the businesswoman.

Without waiting for state aid, they began looking for solutions to reduce business costs from the first quarantine in the spring. When they stopped keeping the rented premises, they were forced to move to much cheaper ones. However, even here, considerable investment was required. According to E. Glemžienė, it is much easier to find such premises for offices or shops, sports clubs have certain requirements: large spaces and space for showers.

“The state support that was provided during the first wave of quarantine was not enough for us, we had to look for other solutions. We were forced to change locations because we simply couldn’t maintain the facilities. Our company is still young, so it was hit hard during the first wave of quarantine. But when you take the second blow just after less than half a year, it is very difficult to survive, ”admits E. Glemžienė.

Rescued doctors

Dovilė Šipelienė, the director of the Romantic Hotel and the Romantic InForma Sports Club and Wellness Center located here, is also in conflict. According to her, the first wave was heavier due to uncertainty and uncertainty. On the other hand, they have not yet recovered economically from the spring quarantine. This time, rehabilitation services were allowed and the activity was completely suspended. The only problem is that the customers themselves fear possible contamination and avoid contact.

We have the condition of secondary rehabilitation, which allows us to carry out activities at least in part. Not for beauty and pleasure, but for health. For our part, we have done everything possible so that people with disabilities or more serious health problems can get rehabilitation services, but people do not go. Belonging to a risk group, avoid any contact, ”said D. Šipelienė.

According to the businesswoman, the hotel has been drooling since spring, only in July there was some recovery. So the restaurant and spa were something of a drag on the hotel’s loss-making activities. However, these activities are now also limited. The government’s decision to allocate 200 euros for a break to doctors became the lifeline.

“Our clients were mostly Latvians and residents of other big cities. When they left, it was very sad. But we were discovered by the people of Panevėžys. Our doctors did not transport that money to Birštonas or Druskininkai, but we are very happy with that. We just ran in and closed everything again, “said the businesswoman.

Hope for a new power

According to D. Šipelienė, if the quarantine is prolonged with its current restrictions, some companies will not be saved even with the support of the state. Only those who buckle down and suffocate will survive, but that requires experience and skill.

“About 30 percent. The hotels have not opened after the first quarantine and it is unlikely that they will open yet. If the state does not help with the rent, the rest will also close,” says the businesswoman.

According to D. Šipelienė, companies need real financial assistance, which should be very diverse: for some it may be enough to offset the rent, for others it may be exempt from property tax. It would also be very important one of the government’s proposals for the company to reimburse at least part of the taxes paid last year.

“It just came to our notice then. In the UK, for example, the state pays 80 percent. Salary received. This means that if you received 1000 euros, you will be paid for downtime 800. In Lithuania, you can even earn 3000 euros, but you will not even receive the minimum wage in downtime. For example, this summer, employees received only € 200 each. How to survive with such a young person, after all, many of them have various obligations financial, have children? ”- said D. Šipelienė.

The government’s discourse that a company can obtain a loan under favorable conditions, according to the interlocutor, is nothing more than pushing it into the abyss. According to Panevėžys, it is simply a crime to offer a drowned business to hang another loan anchor.

“We hope for the best, although we are prepared for the worst. That optimism strengthens immunity, we feverishly cling to it, but when we talk to business colleagues, we see that the mood is much worse. We are still waiting for a new government. Perhaps it will demonstrate. who know how to deal much better with a pandemic will help the company survive, ”says D. Šipelienė still.

See discrimination

During the quarantine, not only sports and wellness centers were suspended, but also children’s clubs, although classes are being held in schools. Valentinas Pechinin, the director of the white spider club, which teaches the art of karate to the little residents of Panevėžys, is outraged that such an order, when some are allowed to play sports and others are not, is discriminatory. During the first wave of quarantine in the spring, all contact sports activities were closed indoors and an exception is now made for highly skilled athletes.

What is high athletic excellence? Units of those preparing for world or European championships in Lithuania. That’s why other adult sports teams can play sports too. There are even several football teams playing in Panevėžys. Just because they play in the Lithuanian Championship, we cannot call them highly trained athletes. Our Danas Rapšys is a masterpiece, but a village level team, to which the entire stadium is dedicated, can hardly be called high dominance, ”the well-known coach was outraged.

He does not understand why the younger generation is deprived of the opportunity to play sports. Already after the first wave of the pandemic, around three dozen little athletes did not return to the gym. V. Pechinin believes that some have simply found themselves spending time in front of computers, while others can no longer be allowed to train due to the deteriorating financial situation of the family.

“The mastery of sports begins with young children, if we do not create a future, in five years there will be no one who will pursue that mastery. I’m not even talking about children’s health. “They are already getting old before they grow up, children from 10 to 12 years old no longer do what I did when I was sixty,” said V. Pechinin.

A bleak future

V. Pechinin does not understand why primary school children can study at school, but after school the same children can no longer play sports. According to him, taking a longer break will take a long time before kids find the motivation to go back to training.

“Sport as creativity: when you stop, it takes the same time to come back. The elementary schools can go to school and not to training. How do I explain to a child that footballers who break instead of pushing can train and Can’t they? In my forty years as a coach, a situation like this has never happened before. Business, culture, sports are being stopped, only politicians can act at the moment, “said V. Pechinin angrily.